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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26976991">On Soul Bonds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Falling_Star/pseuds/The_Falling_Star'>The_Falling_Star</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A call, a withering echo, and it sings all-knowing words [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Metafiction, POV W. D. Gaster, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Soul Bond, Undertale Monsters on the Surface</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:40:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26976991</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Falling_Star/pseuds/The_Falling_Star</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“In an effort to better understand the phenomena of 'Soul Bonds', a connection that only occurs between a human SOUL and a monster SOUL, I will be organizing my findings and analyses in the following record.”</p><p>An expert from the private research notes of Doctor W.D. Gaster, former Royal Scientist.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chara &amp; Asriel Dreemurr, W. D. Gaster/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A call, a withering echo, and it sings all-knowing words [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753795</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>On Soul Bonds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This takes place a few months after the events of <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23580004/chapters/58558999">From the Mouth of an Injured Head</a>.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>In an effort to better understand the phenomena of “Soul Bonds”, a connection that only occurs between a human SOUL and a monster SOUL, I will be organizing my findings and analyses in the following record.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately, the subjects available for study are limited to a very small cohort. Myself and my mate, Alexandria Silva, and two siblings, Asriel and Chara Dreemurr are the only known extant participants of a Soul Bond. For the foreseeable future, I believe further examples will not be forthcoming, but I will detail my reasons for believing as such in later sections.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="u"> <b>History of Soul Bonds</b> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Insofar as my research has found, Soul Bonds have existed for all of recorded monster history. They are exceedingly rare, occurring typically when a human freely relinquishes their SOUL to a monster. This necessitates the death of the human involved (there has only been one known exception). Of course, given the past relationships between two races, it is very rare a human would willingly conscript their demise for the benefit of a monster, but it is not unheard of. Several pre-Underground legends are believed to have originated from such events. </p><p> </p><p>Forcibly taking a human’s SOUL does not forge a Soul Bond, as it exists via a mutually agreed upon pact by both SOULs involved. SOULs that do not consent to being absorbed will inevitably reject their host monster in time.</p><p> </p><p>The current sets of Soul Bound are highly unique cases in that both members of the Bond are living, and the involved SOULs are housed in two separate bodies as opposed to one. Asriel and Chara did once experience the more common example of a Soul Bond at the expense of Chara’s human body and have provided great insights into the differences between a one-body and two-body Soul Bond.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="u"> <b>Resulting Effects</b> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u"> Homing Capabilities </span>
</p><p>The first and simplest consequence of a Soul Bond is the ability to locate a Bond mate. thaumaturgical scans of Bonded SOULs reveals filament-like structures that facilitate a flow of magical energy and much of the phenomena detailed below. </p><p> </p><p>Tracing these filaments is a very elementary task and allows pin-point accuracy in finding a Bond mate. It does require a conscious effort, and the more proximal a mate, the simpler it is to execute the magic required. However, even vast distances are easily managed. I have teleported myself several hundred miles away and still readily reproduced the effect without fail. Even more exemplary, I was able to trace my mate’s location through the void. Given the lack of space-time, there was theoretically an infinite distance between us, yet I managed to locate her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u"> Empathy </span>
</p><p>In day-to-day life, the most pronounced effect of a Soul Bond is the ability to sense the emotional state of a Bond mate. This is a passive and continual occurrence that can admittedly be disruptive. Unlike locating a mate, pronounced emotions are freely transmitted through the Bond without any conscious input from either party. In fact, “tuning out” these emotions can be mentally and magically taxing. Strong emotions, like terror or elation, are nearly impossible to block. Similarly, investigating subtleties of emotions from a partner, such as the difference between general “sadness” versus a more precise “loneliness” for example, requires a concerted effort. </p><p> </p><p>While the feelings of a Bond mate are assuredly their own, there is a distinct influence from their partner. The Bond itself tends to have a “mood” at any given moment that subtly affects both parties. This effect can be highly pronounced when both Bond mates are experiencing similar potent emotions. Such occurrences can cause a positive feedback loop where one party feeds into the emotions of the other, cyclically building off one another until such feelings exceed what would be considered normal behavior. As for myself and my mate, we have a tendency towards these feedback loops when experiencing anger. If left unchecked, it can spiral into pure rage. Typically, one party must terminate the loop by muting their input into the bond or consciously quelling their emotions, both strategies proving difficult tasks in the heat of the moment.</p><p> </p><p>One bond mate will have more “control” over the emotional state of the bond, seemingly the more powerful of the two SOULs involved. They are capable of forcibly overriding emotions and directly influencing the emotional state of their partner, typically in stressful or dire situations. Alex, having a human SOUL, obviously meets that criteria for our Bond, while Asriel commands his. I believe this is due to his higher concentration of DETERMINATION in comparison to Chara.</p><p> </p><p>An interesting note is that physical sensations are incapable of being transmitted. While the associated emotions of a sensory input will be produced, for instance distress when in pain, the feeling of pain is isolated only to the physical body itself. Alex has experienced both extreme ends of the spectrum, from severe life-threatening pain to exceeding pleasure, yet I have not been capable of sensing those sensations first-hand (despite extensive testing of the latter). </p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u"> Telepathy </span>
</p><p>The most marked difference between a one-body Soul Bond versus a two-body Soul Bond is the ability to transmit thoughts. Chara reports that technically a Soul Bond is unnecessary to convey thoughts and ideas from one SOUL to another having done so with both the human Frisk Dreemurr and Alex under unusual scenarios that will likely defy replication. For the purposes of this investigation however, we will be limiting our scope to Soul Bonds.</p><p> </p><p>A one-body Soul Bond will have perfect telepathic capabilities; That is, thoughts can be directly communicated from between SOULs with flawless fidelity. In contrast, this ability is severely limited when the SOULs are physically separated. This phenomenon may be the most difficult to describe with the written word, but I shall do my best to illustrate it.</p><p> </p><p>Thoughts, nebulous as they are, typically do not have a one-to-one interpretation to words. This can be best understood when considering various languages. A bilingual speaker will often find they are better able to interpret a particular concept with one language over another, but no perfectly worded interpretation will exist for the thoughts in our minds. </p><p> </p><p>In opposition, when communicating with a Bond mate, it is almost impossible to transmit concrete words but instead only general concepts. For example, I could receive the less distinct idea of “I have a severe distaste of the substance before me”, but not the actual, literal words, “I hate coffee.” Emotions also play a large role, disgust for instance would accompany the above transmission. The stronger an associated feeling, the more capable a thought is of being effectively communicated. There is often much interpretation that must occur when communicating in this fashion, relying on context clues, emotional states, and simply being familiar with the intricacies of one’s partner. However, despite its limitations, silent and untraceable communication is wonderfully useful.</p><p> </p><p>Much like overriding the emotional state of a Bond, moments of extreme stress can facilitate greater capabilities of transmitting thought, nearly approaching a conversational level. </p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span class="u"> <b>Creating Soul Bonds</b> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>Soul Bonds are permanent magical structures that are wholly resistant to destruction once created. Chara and Asriel Dreemurr are highly fascinating individuals who have experienced unimaginable events that I would have once considered impossible, including surviving states that boarded on nearly complete disintegration of their SOULs. But even in such a state, the Bond persisted. Today, both of these individuals are boss monsters with SOULs virtually unrecognizable from the ones they were born with, yet still fully experience the Soul Bond as I do with my human.</p><p> </p><p>Drawing from all of my research, I can conclude there exists three methods to forge a Soul Bond. They are as follows:</p><p> </p>
<ol>
<li>A boss monster willingly forfeits their SOUL to a human. At present, only two non-Bonded boss monsters exist, King Asgore and Queen Toriel. Neither would appear likely candidates for such a situation to arise.</li>
<li>A human freely forfeits their SOUL to a monster. This is the most common and more likely scenario, but as previously mentioned, requires a human who is willing to die.</li>
<li>The Scion of INTEGRITY forges a Soul Bond with a monster.</li>
</ol><p> </p><p>To better explain the third scenario, we must first explore what a Scion is.</p><p> </p><p>The term, like ‘Soul Bond’, was codified by Chara Dreemurr. They define a Scion as a human mage with an exceptionally powerful SOUL containing a nearly pure SOUL trait. They are exemplars of their trait and are highly adept at wielding magic. Chara considered themself a Scion of DETERMINATION when they existed in human form. They have since been succeeded by their sibling Frisk. Meanwhile, Alex is the current Scion of INTEGRITY. Scions are rare, occurring approximately once every generation. I believe that the Seven Mages who erected the Barrier were also Scions of their given SOUL traits.</p><p> </p><p>INTEGRITY is adept at several magical feats that center around binding forces, including extreme applications of gravity magic. As such, skilled Blue Mages are capable of tying two SOULs together. However, the magical output required is so vast that only exceptionally powerful SOULs are able to forge a Bond. Indeed, in the act of creating the bond between my mate and myself, Alex was subjected to the most severe case of Soul Burn I have found documentation of. It completely muted the Bond for her, and she was unable to experience any of the above phenomena until I applied healing magic directly to her SOUL.</p><p> </p><p>Due to these limiting factors, I can quite confidently state that witnessing another Soul Bond in my lifetime is highly unlikely. However, if such a scenario arises, I will be sure to conduct additional investigations (If the subjects permit it, of course).</p><p> </p><p>Likewise, any further information gleaned from my firsthand experience, or of the Dreemurrs, will be compiled and appended to this document. I am most interested in observing how Bonds change over time, as nearly all historical examples are relatively, and often tragically, short-lived. </p><p> </p><p>I can only hope that pattern does not hold.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Doctor W.D. Gaster, D.S.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="letter">
  <p>Hey, I’m headed to Alphys’s, I’ll be home around 8. I washed the coffee stain from your lab coat, it’s in the dryer.</p>
  <p>(And way to humble brag about our sex life.)</p>
  <p>Love you &lt;3</p>
  <p>- A</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did I mention I love lore? Or that magic systems are my jam? How Soul Bonds work varies from author to author, so I wanted to detail how they function in this AU. Probably not the most exciting work but it amused me at least.</p><p><a href="https://fallingstarstuff.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> where you can find a posting schedule.</p><p>If you are a fan or writer of Gaster fics, please consider joining us over at the <a href="https://fallingstarstuff.tumblr.com/post/639586244700127232/gasters-followers-discord-server">Gaster's Followers Discord server.</a></p><p>💙 Stay safe, and stay DETERMINED. ❤️</p></blockquote></div></div>
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